For All the Right Reasons
by MBradford
Summary: The night before the Fellowship leaves Rivendell, Frodo speaks to Gandalf of what worries him.


For All the Right Reasons  
  
Author - Mbradford  
  
Summary - Movie verse. At the Council of Elrond, Frodo declares that he will take the Ring to Mordor. Gandalf closes his eyes and looks stricken, but at the same time, rather proud of Frodo. The night before the Fellowship leaves Rivendell, Gandalf and Frodo talk about a few things.  
  
Rating - G  
  
Disclaimer - The characters and places belong to the Tolkien Estate. I'm just visiting their world.  
  
~*~  
  
Frodo knew he should be sleeping, for the Fellowship would be leaving Rivendell with the rising sun and the journey ahead was sure to be fraught with danger. Sleep was eluding him, however, as his thoughts careened through his mind in an unsettled riot of guilt and apprehension. He sighed as he took in the view from the balcony. Rivendell was peaceful and lovely, a comfortable haven in a world that was otherwise proving harsh and unpredictable.  
  
He heard a soft step behind him and turned to look over his shoulder. "Gandalf! I thought everyone was asleep."  
  
"Not everyone, Frodo, as you are obviously not." The tall Wizard stood beside the hobbit, and looked down at him with a kind but knowing expression. "What keeps you from rest, my dear hobbit?"  
  
"My own unquiet mind, Gandalf," Frodo replied, staring absently into the night sky above him. "I fear I have done something foolish that will endanger those I love and so much more."  
  
Gandalf pulled on his pipe thoughtfully as he regarded the hobbit beside him. Earlier in the day, the Council had nearly dissolved into chaos, with many present falling into an argument regarding the Ring and the task of bearing it to Mordor. As the voices of Men, Dwarves and Elves were raised against each other in a growing cacophony, one voice had broken through all of them, softly but clearly. 'I will take it! I will take the Ring to Mordor - though I do not know the way.' Frodo.  
  
Gandalf had closed his eyes when Frodo had spoken, stricken by the thought of this extraordinary hobbit who was so dear to him undertaking such a monumental and dangerous task. Frodo had borne far more than anyone should ever have asked of him as it was.  
  
"You feel you have been foolish, Frodo? And yet foolishness is not something I would readily accuse you of, generally speaking." Gandalf puffed on his pipe again.  
  
"The definition of foolishness depends largely upon the fool himself, I suppose," Frodo countered wryly. A more serious tone crept into his next words. "I couldn't stop myself, Gandalf. Everyone was arguing and not one of them was listening to another. It seemed old hatreds meant more than the future to them." He stared off into nothingness for a moment. Was that why he had spoken? To make them stop arguing?  
  
Frodo had been quite dismayed as he had listened to the voices of those present at the Council. Men had been corrupted by the Ring easily enough in the past, and Boromir, the Man of Gondor, had stood before them all and spoken of using the Ring as a weapon. It was clear that he knew neither the true nature of the Ring, nor its formidable power.  
  
Gimli, the Dwarf, had fallen back on his people's distrust of the Elves, stating gruffly that one should 'never trust an Elf,' and that he should rather be dead than to see the Ring in the hands of one of them. It had not seemed as though the Dwarves had wanted the task themselves, but they certainly didn't want it to be given to the Elves!  
  
The truth regarding the Ring was not clearly understood by the Dwarf either, and Frodo had looked on fearfully as Gimli had sought to destroy it with a stroke of his axe. Of course the attempt failed, merely splintering the Dwarven axe as if it were not sturdy metal but delicate glass.  
  
And the pain! Frodo had not expected the white - hot stab of agony that shot through him as the blade fell upon the small circlet of gold. Was he bound to the Ring himself, after possessing it in the years after Bilbo left, and carrying it from the Shire to Rivendell? Was that the reason he had spoken the words that now doomed innocent others to a journey into unspeakable dangers?  
  
"Because of my words and actions, Merry, Pippin and Sam will face dangers far greater than any they have ever imagined or should be required to face." Frodo paused and looked up at Gandalf. "I have selfishly placed them in a position of making a potentially deadly choice."  
  
"But a choice it was, Frodo," Gandalf countered calmly. "They decided for themselves that they were to accompany you on the quest." Gandalf placed a comforting hand on Frodo's shoulder. "The choices we make are not always simple, and are motivated by many things," the Wizard mused aloud. "They can be motivated by fear, greed, anger, or prompted by more positive things like love and loyalty."  
  
"Then what of my choice to take the Ring?" Frodo asked, his eyes fixed on Gandalf's. "I want to believe I chose this task for the right reasons. What if it was greed that caused me to step forward? What if I am so bound to the Ring that I cannot bear to allow another to possess it? I should be no better than Gollum, if that should be so," Frodo said sadly.  
  
"You are not Gollum, my dear hobbit. You are Frodo Baggins, son of Drogo Baggins, Hobbit of the Shire." Gandalf's tone was stern, but his eyes held a touch of something softer. "You are a unique and noble being, and you are neither foolish nor greedy. The Ring is treacherous, beyond a doubt, but there is no treachery in you, Frodo. If any in Middle Earth can bear this burden, you are likely the best to do so."  
  
Frodo was somewhat taken aback by Gandalf's statement. How better was he, a simple hobbit, to carry the ring than one of the Elves, perhaps? Surely one of the Firstborn would be stronger and wiser than he, and far more able to bear such a burden.  
  
"But Gandalf, surely the Elves are more knowledgeable and stronger than hobbits. Would they not be better able to complete this task?" Frodo waited for Gandalf to explain his reasoning.  
  
"Wise and strong the Elves may be, but they have witnessed much in the ages. They have not lived so peacefully as your race, Frodo." The Wizard gazed skyward at the star Frodo had been contemplating earlier. "You hobbits are far more resilient and brave than some may realize. You do not have the greed or lust for power that troubles the race of Men, nor the experience of ages spent in a world torn asunder by the wars such things have spawned."  
  
Gandalf considered, then looked at Frodo rather pointedly. "Frodo, if you could have anything in the world you desired, and the power to make it so were in your very hands, what would it be?"  
  
A test then? Frodo thought for a moment, then answered as honestly as he could. "If I could have anything in the world, Gandalf, I would have my those I love safe, sound and near me always. I would have them healthy, happy and unafraid." Frodo returned Gandalf's gaze. "I would have no knowledge of the Ring and its evil ever touch them."  
  
"And that, my good hobbit, is why you are suited to bear this burden." Gandalf knelt down to be better able to look into Frodo's eyes. "Frodo, the power to enslave the world exists and is no farther from you than the reach of your hand. Yet you desire only the safety and happiness of those you love, and nothing more. The very fact that you do not want the Ring and what it represents makes you fit to bear it."  
  
Frodo listened to the Wizard's words attentively, and thought he understood their meaning somewhat. "Then you think it was meant to be that the Ring should not go with the Elves, the Dwarves or Men?"  
  
"Perhaps. But yet, the Ring does go with Elves, Dwarves and Men. It shall be in your care, Frodo, but you shall have what assistance the other races of Middle Earth can offer. This is not merely the task of one, but of all."  
  
Frodo smiled up at the Wizard as he considered all that had been said. "I shall be glad of the company of all of them on this journey, and very certainly of yours." He considered for a moment, then asked, "Will you look out for them, though? For Merry, Pippin and Sam? Sam will follow where I go whether he believes it to be wise or not, but I fear mostly for the others. Their choice it may have been, but what lies ahead for them - "  
  
"I shall watch them with the eyes of a hawk, especially that young Took you've brought with you." Gandalf's eyes twinkled just a little as he spoke. "Really, Frodo, we may not need to hover over them as closely as you may think."  
  
"Why do you say that, Gandalf?" Frodo searched the Wizard's face. Was there something Gandalf knew about his cousins that was escaping his notice?  
  
"I merely wish to point out, dear Frodo, that it is your cousins who are conserving their strength in sleep while you and I stand here conversing at this late hour. They are not without wisdom of their own." Gandalf's eyebrow slid upward at the end of that statement, and Frodo laughed in spite of himself.  
  
"You are right as usual, I suppose. I shall sleep better for our conversation." Frodo hugged the tall Wizard fondly, and turned to go back inside. "Good night, Gandalf."  
  
Gandalf watched the hobbit walk away, and remained on the balcony lost in thought for a few moments. When Frodo had risen and volunteered to bear the Ring, Gandalf had felt his heart sinking. The thought of Frodo going into even greater danger than he had seen already was difficult to bear. He realized that he had felt something else in that moment. He had been proud of Frodo for his bravery and selflessness. Indeed, such traits made hobbits perhaps the only race in Middle Earth capable of bearing the One Ring without falling to its evil.  
  
"Good night, Frodo, son of Drogo," he muttered around the stem of his pipe. With a final glance at the bright stars above, Gandalf sought the quiet space of his own room and what rest awaited him there. The dawn would come quickly and the road, as in Bilbo's song, would go ever on.  
  
~*~ 


End file.
